Packer Bridge Plug with Slips

ABSTRACT

The present invention is to a packer plug that can be tripped into a particular location in a well bore and set using slips rings and packer elements. The plug presents little flow resistance because of its wide inner diameter throat through the mandrel. A ball seat at an upper end allows for the sealing of the interior passage. The ball can be flowed upward or dissolved to remove the seal and allow flow through the plug. A slip ring can be used in place of slips to reduce the overall length of the packer plug.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/552,142, filed Nov. 24, 2014, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application 61/907,447, filed Nov. 22, 2013, entitled“Packer Bridge Plug with Slips,” which is incorporated herein byreference. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication 62/051,694, filed Sep. 17, 2014, entitled “Improved PackerBridge Plug with Slips,” which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a bridge plug packer having a ball seatand packer element for sealing one zone of a well from another.

In the process of fracking, it is expensive to run tools into and out ofthe well. It is therefore desirable to run in tools that can servemultiple purposes during the fracking process. The present invention inat least one embodiment is to a packer tool that can be used to seal awell bore and when the ball is removed presents only a small resistanceto the production flow up through the plug.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a principal object of a preferred embodiment of theinvention to provide a packer plug that can be tripped into a particularlocation in a well bore and set using slips or expansion rings andpacker elements. The plug presents little flow resistance because of itswide inner diameter throat through the mandrel. A ball seat at an upperend allows for the sealing of the interior passage. The ball can beflowed upward or dissolved to remove the seal and allow flow through theplug.

It is another object of the invention to provide a selectively sealabledown hole tool that can be sealed and unsealed during the fackingprocess without having to trip the entire tool back up the well bore.

It is a further object of the invention to a bridge plug for use with aremovable ball or with a dissolvable ball to allow production flowthrough the tool without requiring removal of the tool.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a down hole toolthat can be set with a setting tool to set one or more bridge plugs inseries to isolate a number of zones in a well bore which can beselectively unsealed to allow production flow through the tool.

It is a further object of the invention to a bridge plug for use havinga slip ring instead of slips to lock the packer in place in a well bore.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements andarrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which isinexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing itsintended purposes.

These and other objects of the present invention will be readilyapparent upon review of the following detailed description of theinvention and the accompanying drawings. These objects of the presentinvention are not exhaustive and are not to be construed as limiting thescope of the claimed invention. Further, it must be understood that noone embodiment of the present invention need include all of theaforementioned objects of the present invention. Rather, a givenembodiment may include one or none of the aforementioned objects.Accordingly, these objects are not to be used to limit the scope of theclaims of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is cross-sectional view of a bridge plug packer according to atleast one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the bridge plug according to theembodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a setting tool and bridge plug forrunning into a well bore.

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of a setting tool and bridge plug forrunning into a well bore in the setting mode.

FIG. 4 is a front plan view of a bridge plug according to a furtherembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is cross-sectional view of a bridge plug packer according to afurther embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a front plan view of a bridge plug shown partiallydisassembled.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistentlythroughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a bridge plug packer having slips.

A bridge plug is used to isolate a zone below the plug. It is desirableto make a bridge plug that can be reversed by simply flowing fluid upfrom beneath the plug. The current inventions shows one such plug 10 inthe Figures.

FIG. 1 shows a bridge plug 10. The plug has a central body 12terminating in a collet 14. The bridge plug 10 has a set of slips 16 onthe bottom end of the packer that when set keep the frac plug 10 inplace. The rubber element/packer 18 is contained between the expansionrings 20 on the top and the expansion rings 22 above the cone on thebottom. The expansion rings may have a cut section to allow the rings tocontract and expand. A rubber retainer ring 24 may be provided on eitherside of the packer to retain the packer in position on the plug 10. Asthe expansion rings are compressed towards each other the rubber packer18 expands outwardly to lock the plug in place and isolates the zoneupstream of the plug from the downstream zone.

The slips 16 are located between an upper cone 26 and a lower cone 28.Upper cone 28 has locknut 30 and lower cone 28 includes a locknut 32.These locknut cooperate with threading/ridges 34 on the mandrel/centralbody 12 to selectively locate the cones at a particular axial locationalong the mandrel to for example, retain the slips in a deployed status.Preferably the mandrel 12 includes threads 34 that allow the lowerlocknut 32 to be threaded into position, but the threads also cooperatewith the lockring to act as a ratchet so that the mandrel can movedownwardly past the lockring when the setting tool strokes or when adownward force acts on the mandrel body to further set the slips 16.

A number of shear pins 36 (FIG. 2) are provided to lock the upper andlower cones relative to the mandrel before setting. As described lowerunder, when the pins shear under downward pressure from the mandrel, thecones compress the slip, forcing the slip outward to engage the wellbore (not shown). The pressure required to shear the pins may varyaccording to the application, but are preferably set to shear during thestroking of the setting tool.

In operation, the plug is run in the well with wireline pump down,tractor or tubing (not shown). The plug is set with a special settingkit 50 (FIGS. 3 & 3B) that attaches to the bottom section of the Packerplug by a setting collet 52. The setting collet is arranged such thatthe setting collet arms fall within the voids between the main mandrel12 collet arms. The ends of the setting collet arms extend outwardly toengage with the lower cone. The setting mandrel 50 body prevents thesetting collet arms from moving inward. A shear ring 54 is provided torelease the setting kit mandrel body at the appropriate time. When thesetting mandrel body is removed, the setting collet 52 arms can moveinwardly to release the kit from the bridge plug 10. The setting mandrelbody has a limited “lost motion” where the setting mandrel body can moverelative to the setting collet before the mandrel body hits a shoulder56 of the collet. When the setting mandrel body is thus positioned, thecollet arms can retract. Further movement of the setting mandrel bodyupward causes a shoulder of the setting mandrel body 50 to force thesetting collet body upward with the setting mandrel body so that thesetting kit can be removed from the bridge plug entirely. A cap (notshown) may be provided at the terminus of the setting mandrel body tokeep the sheer ring from falling off entirely from the setting kit.

FIG. 3 shows a setting gun 48 inside a setting sleeve attached to thebridge plug by the setting kit and ready for insertion into a well bore.The setting gun is connected to the setting kit mandrel by adaptersleeve 62, which is attached to the bridge plug by collet 52 which isheld in place by shear ring 54.

When setting, the tools are tripped into a well bore to a desiredlocation. The slips are partially set as the tool is tripped in toprovide some resistance. This resistance causes the packer elements topartially set. The setting tool then strokes and the bridge plug mandrelmoves downward relative to the cones setting the slips, compressing thepacker element and expanding the rubber expansion rings while the shearpins on the cones shear allowing the mandrel to move relative to thecones. The locknuts 30,32 ratchet along the threads 34 and are locked inplace against returning to their pre-setting position by the threads 34in a one-way ratchet. When the force reaches a sufficient pressure toshear the shear pins on the setting mandrel, the pin(s) shear on thelock ring and the setting collets on the bottom of the setting kitcollapse allowing the setting kit to be released from the Packer Plug.The shear ring collects at a lower portion of the shear kit so that itcan be retrieved with the tool. The setting tool is the tripped upleaving the bridge plug set in place. Because the bridge plug is hollow,fluid can still flow unobstructed through the well bore. The cylindricalshape of the tool allows for the flow to bridge plug to only have aminor impact on flow through the well bore.

The next operation is to isolate the zones below the plug by pumping aball on to the top of the Packer Plug. A ball 70 is pumped down fromsurface and lands on the top of the Packer Plug blocking flow throughthe interior of the bridge plug as the packer element blocks flow aroundthe bridge plug. The additional feature of the ball landing on the topof the Packer plug is that this pushes additional force on the mandrelthough the lock nut and down to the low slips. This force energizes theelement more and puts more energy into the slips of the Packer tool.

The final operation is the flow back and production. With the mandrelbeing a large cast iron Mandrel, the fluids and gasses in the well willnot break down the tool like a composite plug. Because the Bottom of thePacker mandrel has a collet style design with arms having ample voidsbetween the arms, the well fluids will flow around any ball that comesin contact with the bottom of the Packer mandrel and will flow throughthe voids in the collet and through the interior of the bridge plug.

ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 4-6 show a further embodiment of the invention having expansionrings (“slip rings”) instead of slips. The arrangement of thisembodiment allows for a simplified design and a reduced overall lengthof the tool.

The tool 110 has a central mandrel 112 having a packer element 118mounted thereon. The mandrel includes a ball seat 113 for the ball 170to seal the inner passageway through the mandrel. The lower end ofmandrel body includes collet fingers 114 for attaching additionalelements to the mandrel. A frustoconical ring 125 takes the place ofupper cone 26. The lower cone 128 has a conical surface to enclosed anumber of slip rings 115 between the lower cone and the 26 and to forcethe expansion rings to expand when compressed between the lower cone andthe ring 125. The slip rings 115 may have a weakened area or cut throughto allow the rings to expand when compressed between the conicalsurfaces like a C clip. The expansion ring may have additional frictionelements 117 to provide a secure bite between the bridge plug and thewell casing when it is desired to set the plug in place. The frictionalelements could be made of carbide or may be wickers similar to the slipdesign of the first embodiment. Other materials including metals andceramics could be used for the construction of the frictional elements117 depending on the application. For the purposes of this patent, a“slip ring” shall mean a circular band or hoop of material mounted on abridge plug that can expand radially for the purpose of frictionallyengaging a surrounding casing of a well bore or the like to fix thebridge relative to the casing, wherein the slip ring is expandable orhas a cut to allow the slip ring to expand its effective radius.

In practice, the lower cone is threaded onto the mandrel body and shearpinned into place. A setting tool similar to FIG. 3 is used to bottomset the bridge plug in place. During setting, the lower cone shears thepin 129 and moves upwardly along the mandrel body to compress the sliprings between the cone of the lower cone 128 and the ring 125 forcingthe slip rings outward. The slip rings engage the inner wall of thecasing as they expand forcing the slip rings and/or the frictionalelements 117 into frictional engagement with the casing to affix thebridge plug into place. Further compression expands the packer element118 outward to prevent any flow around the outside of the bridge plug. Aball 170 is then dropped into place to selectively seal the bridge plug.If required, the ball can be dissolved or removed to reopen the flowthrough the tool to allow production or other flow therethrough withoutrequiring the removal of the tool.

While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, itis understood that it is capable of further modifications, uses and/oradaptations of the invention following in general the principle of theinvention and including such departures from the present disclosure ascome within the known or customary practice in the art to which theinvention pertains and as maybe applied to the central featureshereinbefore set forth, and fall within the scope of the invention andthe limits of the appended claims. It is therefore to be understood thatthe present invention is not limited to the sole embodiment describedabove, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of thefollowing claims.

I claim:
 1. A bridge plug for sealing a well bore comprising: a mandrelhaving a tubular body and a collet; a ball seat at an upper end forreceiving a ball to seal flow through the mandrel body; a packer elementmounted to the mandrel for selectively sealing flow outside the mandrelbody; an upper conical body slidably mounted on the mandrel and a lowerconical body mounted on the mandrel; at least one slip ring mountedbetween the upper conical body and lower sub causing the slip to expandaway the mandrel when the slip slides over the upper conical body. 2.The bridge plug of claim 1 wherein the slip ring is a narrow band ofmaterial having a precut section to allow the band to expand radially.3. The bridge plug of claim 1 wherein the slip ring is a narrow band ofmaterial having an expandable section to allow the band to expandradially.
 4. The bridge plug of claim 1 wherein the slip ring is a Cshaped hoop of material having frictional elements mounted about anouter circumference of the hoop.
 5. The bridge plug of claim 1 whereinthe slip ring is a C shaped hoop of material having frictional elementsmounted about an outer circumference of the hoop, wherein the frictionalelements are made of carbide.